Over time, it has become increasingly important to find less expensive and more efficient ways to conduct flow measurement of fluid (e.g., gas, air, water, other liquids, etc.). One solution involves proportional flow metering, in which a common sized measurement component and/or channel is used along with a bypass channel. Using a bypass channel allows implementations where the maximum flow could or will exceed the capability of the measurement component/channel. Using a proportional flow metering approach, a portion of the fluid bypasses the measurement channel through the bypass channel without being measured, and the total flow is determined as a function of the amount measured in the measurement channel. This proportional flow metering approach is cost effective in that a common sized measurement component/channel can be used across a wide array of sizes or classes of meters, and this can be done regardless of the specific measurement technology (e.g., type of measurement device(s)) used. In utility metering, for example, smaller residential measurement modules may be utilized outside of their designed range of operation, such as in commercial or industrial metering, saving money by using common parts across product lines. A further potentially cost effective approach is static metering, which may be used in conjunction with proportional flow metering. Static metering is increasingly becoming a prevalent solution for fluid metering for a variety of reasons. With static metering, sensors are used to determine fluid flow measurements instead of moving parts (e.g., diaphragms, turbines, pistons, etc.), which not only reduces initial total part cost, but also greatly reduces the cost of repair of failing parts.
When using proportional flow metering implementations (with or without static metering), however, a variety of physical factors (e.g., pressure, density, temperature, pre-meter conditioning, piping configuration, etc.) can affect the accuracy of the total flow measurement. These physical and/or environmental inconsistencies in the measurement and bypass channels may result in an inaccurate determination of total fluid flow volume. In an attempt to avoid this, some implementations use strict conditioning of fluidics of a meter (e.g., physically altering flow via pipe layout or use of devices placed in the meter and/or flow channel to alter flow effects), and/or try to exactly replicate a flow path into identical channels to attain as consistent conditions as possible. Thus, a number of design constraints may be placed on designs looking to utilize a proportional flow implementation. Even so, these approaches still do not guarantee accurate ratio determination across a wide array of installation applications and variables.
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